Chicago Blackhawks: Another huge week for playoff chase

The Chicago Blackhawks are in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race. They relying on this upcoming week to solidify their chances of getting in.

The Chicago Blackhawks are heading into a very important week. If you feel like you have heard that before, you have. The last two months have been a roller coaster for them. Rumors of trading Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook to actually holding the final wild-card spot for about 45 minutes.

In previous playoff runs for the Blackhawks, they already had their position in the dance pretty much locked up by now. That is not the case this season. They need to come close to running the table the rest of the way.

After a very important win in Montreal, they enter this huge week with a five-point gap between themselves and the Arizona Coyotes who hold the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. The thing that also makes it tough is between the Blackhawks and Coyotes is the Minnesota Wild and the Colorado Avalanche. All of those teams, along with maybe the Edmonton Oilers who have two fewer points than the Blackhawks all could have miracle runs for that final spot.

The Dallas Stars are also in the mix because they only have one more point than the Coyotes for the first Wild Card spot. So those six teams could be in the mix for those two spots.

The Blackhawks have four games this week, and they all come against teams that do not currently have a playoff position in their conference. That does not mean that it will be easy to win the week because every team in the NHL can win on any given night. On Saturday the Ottawa Senators who have 56 points defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs who have 91 points. Anything can happen on any given night.